Boxing has always had some difficulty getting the best to fight the best. Sometimes rival promoters get in the way. More recently, one fighter refusing special drug testing requested by another prevented a fight from happening.
Freddie Roach came up with something new this week. The Hall of Fame trainer was asked what he thought about the possibility of Amir Khan taking on pound-for-
pound king Manny Pacquiao in the near future.
Keep in mind that Pacquiao said before his most recent fight against “Sugar” Shane Mosley in May that he wanted three more fights before retiring to concentrate on his political career in his native Philippines.
Pacquiao is fighting Juan Manuel Marquez a third time on Nov. 12.
The boxing world is hopeful that Pacquiao would then take on Floyd Mayweather Jr., but since previous negotiations have failed because of differences over drug testing, there is no guarantee that would happen.
The only other fight out there that would seem to carry enormous appeal for Pacquiao would be against fast-rising star Khan, who is coming off a fifth-round knockout of Zab Judah this past Saturday in a junior welterweight title unification bout in Las Vegas.
With Pacquiao’s worldwide appeal and Khan having the strong support of the United Kingdom, this would be a huge promotion and more than likely a terrific fight that Khan would actually have a chance of winning.
Alas, Roach says it will never Advertisement
take place. Why?
“They are not going to fight each other,” Roach said Tuesday morning via telephone. “I’m not going to let that happen because I train both fighters. They are both my fighters and they are like sons to me. How can I let both my sons fight?”
Roach said he wouldn’t even know which corner to work.
“It is too much drama to let that happen,” he said. “They both have too much respect for me to let that happen. They are like my kids. I’ve been with Manny for 10 years and I’ve been with Amir for three years. We have a great relationship. Why would I ruin that relationship?”
Khan is employed by Golden Boy Promotions. Richard Schaefer, its CEO, spoke diplomatically when asked about Roach’s edict that would rob fans of a potential super fight.
“I can appreciate how close Freddie is to both and how both of the fighters are close to Freddie,” Schaefer said Tuesday afternoon. “It would put Amir in a terrible situation, it would put Pacquiao in a terrible situation.
“So why push that if there are so many other attractive options out there for either one of those fighters?”
Schaefer said that Khan will fight again in December, and that there are plenty of opponents for him. He could fight comebacking Erik Morales, or perhaps the winner of the Aug. 27 fight between Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Marcos Maidana.
Khan now holds two belts – WBA and IBF – and he could next fight either Lamont Peterson or Victor Cayo, who Friday night squared off in an IBF title elimination fight in Las Vegas.
Timothy Bradley, who held the other two major belts at junior welterweight until he was stripped of one of them Thursday, is another possibility. Bradley has already turned down Khan once, and he has promotional problems and is currently being sued by co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson, who claim they have one more fight with him.
But Khan has been talking a lot of trash about Bradley, saying he’s scared to fight him. Bradley has been listening, and he lashed out at Khan during a telephone interview Wednesday.
“Every fighter who is trying to get a fight with me pops off at the mouth,” Bradley said. “And then when we get in the ring they get smashed in the face. I’m not afraid of him. If you are a true Bradley fan, you know I’m not afraid of any man.
“He just needs to go enjoy his victory and leave my name out his mouth.”
Bradley said as soon as his litigation is over, he will be happy to do something about Khan’s mouth.
Khan would vacate the junior welterweight division after the December fight and move up to welterweight early next year, Schaefer said. One possibility there sounds good.
“I think Mayweather and Amir Khan is as interesting (as Khan-Pacquiao), as exciting, or Amir against the winner of Mayweather-(Victor) Ortiz because Ortiz might pull it off (in their fight Sept. 17),” Schaefer said.
Indeed, Khan against either Mayweather, Ortiz or Bradley would be very nice. But Khan against Pacquiao would be way better because there would be more money involved, it would have incredibly wide appeal and it would have the chance to be one of the most exciting fights in years.
We respect Roach a great deal. But him being the trainer for both Pacquiao and Khan is not even close to being a good enough reason for them not to fight. Roach needs to figure this out, for the fans and for the good of the sport.
Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, is vacationing in Europe and could not be reached for comment. But even the powerful Arum might not be able to do anything about this, as it is well-known that Pacquiao and Roach approve Pacquiao’s opponents.
Bummer.
Warren might seek third chance at gold
Sunday is the first day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Mobile, Ala., and the state of California will have the most representatives with nine. But so many eyes figure to be on flyweight Rau’shee Warren of Cincinnati.
Warren was the youngest boxer in the 2004 Athens Games, but he was eliminated in the first round. After winning the gold medal at the 2007 World Amateur Championships, he became the first American in over 30 years to box in two Olympic Games. He lost a controversial first-round bout in Beijing.
Now 24, Warren might be looking at his last shot at an Olympic medal, assuming he qualifies for the 2012 London Games. He was asked this week about staying around for a possible third Olympics rather than turning pro.
“When I lost (in Beijing), it was a difficult decision to make,” he said. “We worked so hard to get this far, but overall, when I started to think about it, I thought of the dream I’ve had since I was young.
“Being the only one next to my mom while my brother is going to jail, it just kind of stuck with me that this is the dream that I want and I’m still going to chase it. I want to get the medal and put it around my mom’s neck.”
Warren said he thought he had won his first-round match in Beijing, but he relaxed. A tough lesson, but one he can take from if he gets a third shot at a medal.
“… I’m going to stay busy from the first through the third because as you could see at the 2008 Olympics, I thought I was up and let off the gas,” he said.
Leading the way for California is bantamweight Joseph Diaz of El Monte. He recently won his second consecutive national title at the U.S. Championships. Also in his division is Joet Gonzalez of Glendora.
Emilio Sanchez of Pacoima is with Warren in the flyweight division and Edgar Alvarado of San Bernardino will toil in the middleweight class.
The Rock Gym in Carson has two super heavyweights entered in Dominic Breazeale of Anaheim and Jonathan Hamm of St. Paul, Minn.
Etc.
Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire has signed a multi-year contract extension with Top Rank Inc., ending an ordeal that began when Donaire announced he was leaving to sign with Golden Boy Promotions. Claiming he still had a binding contract with Donaire, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum went to arbitration and won. That paved the way for the contract extension. “I am very happy and pleased to announce a recent reconciliation between Top Rank and myself, and I am also excited to announce that I will be back in the ring this coming October,” said Donaire (26-1, 18 KOs), a three-division world champion from the Philippines. … Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KOs) will take on Darryl Cunningham (23-2, 10KOs) in the super middleweight main event next Saturday in Pavlik’s native Youngstown, Ohio (on Showtime). Pavlik is hopeful a victory might lead to a fight against world champion Lucian Bute. … Golden Boy Promotions this week announced Saul `Canelo’ Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KOs) of Mexico will make the second defense of his super welterweight title when he takes on countryman Alfonso Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KOs) on Sept. 17 at Staples Center. It will be part of a split HBO pay-per-view feed that will feature welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
